If you believe the building plans, "Media City" will be a Disneyland
fused with Hollywood and the CNN Centre on the shores of the
Mediterranean.

There's only one catch: it's in the Gaza Strip.

[…]

And the Hamas Islamists backing the site — envisioned as a
combined amusement park, movie studio and hub for international
journalism all in one — say foreign filmmakers will be welcome, as
long as their works don't show people kissing.

But those
setbacks and the reality of Hamas rule and Israeli sanctions have not
discouraged Gaza Media City's backers, inspired by Arab examples in
Dubai and Egypt that have drawn foreign investment and created jobs.

They have started work on landscaping in the hope that one day the
project will feature a zoo and film lots that recreate among other
things, the Palestinian villages of a century ago and today's Israeli
settlements.

[…]

Hamas politician Fathi Hammad said it could cost $20 million — a
bargain compared to the sort of projects seen in Gulf states away from
the Middle East conflict.

But it must be tackled in stages, with funding from Arab countries and non-governmental organizations abroad, he said.

Ok, nevermind that our people are starving, what we really need isn't food, it's a media city. And an amusement park. Yeah! Cause that makes sense. Hamas, our model for responsible leadership. A people's movement per excellence.

In other news, since winter is coming and all, Israel decided in good neighborly fashion to start cutting down its electricity supply to Gaza starting from December 2nd. And since there is no fuel either, Gazans will either have to freeze to death (nevermind the hospitals without electricty problem for now) or engage in that most Palestinian of traditions to keep warm: fucking like bunnies. And you know where babies come from, Israel, so, now, do you really want a Gazan Baby Boom? More Palestinians there? No? Well, if you don't want that, and quite possibly don't want palestinians freezing to death on your conscience, then maybe you should chill on the whole cutting the electricty business. Besides, Hamas is shooting itself in the foot right now, why interfere? Let it take its course.

You know, I keep hearing of the intellectual supremacy of the jewish people, and then I look at their politicians and the decisions they make, and..well..you get the point!

0 comment on A Hamas Media Fun Park and Israeli genius

karen

November 25, 2007 at 6:39 am

Well, no I actually don’t get the point. What do you suggest the Israelis do in response to the rockets launched at them from Gaza? Gaza is Jew free, just like the Pali’s want it, yet they keep fighting. And in response to a new peace conference Hamas vows to launch deadlier rockets at Israel. I know let’s reward them with a state!! Then they will have the freedom to launch deadlier things at the dumb Jews. Israelis are damned if they try to fight the Pali’s and damned if they try to give them most of what they want. The Jews can’t win, but neither do the Arabs because it is the Arabs who are dumb and who would rather live in misery as opposed to actually trying to live with Israel and build a better future for their kids.

Karen, all I am saying is this: Hamas is currently intensely unpopular with the palestinians, you know, for the curbing of freedoms and shooting at demonstrators thing. If Israel just minds its time, not attack, or take any action that would be considerd an attack on the palestinains, thus bringing them back to the support Hamas fold, Hamas would continue to implode and the people will overturn them and never let them rule again. You cut the electricty and you become the source of their current misery, not Hamas, thus giving Hamas a pretext to launching its rockets, making it popular, etc etc…

It’s true, our politicians are both stupid AND corrupt – a very endearing combination. The good news is that they are not representative of the average Israeli. The bad news is that they represent us. On the other hand, next to the Hamas leaders and Ahmedinutjob they are Nobel Prize winning geniusi.

perry

Here’s a plan: cut off the electricity for the entire world for a few months in the middle of winter and let us all do nothing but ‘fuck like bunnies’ as u say for a good 7 months. BY the time summer arrives the ‘bunny-fucking’ generation will be on it’s way, when they arrive we raise them till about age 8 and teach them all our mistakes in human history and all the inhumanity and stupidity, and then kill ourselves in a giant mass suicide and let them start fresh. What about our aussi friends down under who will have summer, you say? Um..we’ll have to nuke them beforehand.

On a more relevant note; the Hamas thing just keeps getting better and better, I wonder what’s next…

mia

November 25, 2007 at 10:56 am

The point is that we have “leaders” (and I use that word carelessly) who care less about our future – they only protect their own future.
Seeing my “political” leaders now – none of them would be welcomed through my front door.

JAS

November 25, 2007 at 7:56 pm

Isn’t continously fucking like bunnies but failing to build an economy that will provide jobs for their children one of the reasons bad gets worse? Nothing to do with the weather–only whether or not Palestinians choose to spend their time building or destroying.

Two columns. One listing Israei offers and concessions, the other listing Palestinian promises kept. Long column, short column?

Barb

November 25, 2007 at 10:14 pm

If we all got along, there would be no real need for politicians. My understanding of what Sandmonkey is saying is cutting folks’ electricity serves no real purpose. And I say such actions will only deepen the hurt and anger and what good will that do–to anyone? There is a saying, kill them with kindness–overwhelm them with it and see what happens.

ella

Barb

November 25, 2007 at 10:59 pm

Actually, I am implementing “kill them with kindness” at work and it is working. I am very different in every which way and I work with what is called “red necks.” They can be very cruel and mean. I tried fighting back and it just got worst. I tried ignoring them as if they did not exist. It just got worst. So now I am being kind, extremely so, and it is working. Also, there was an article I read many years ago that totally impacted my life. A Jewish couple who lived in a Midwestern community in the U.S. were having all kinds of meaness and hatred directed towards them by the local chapter of the klu klux klan. This couple decided to kindly confronted the Grand Dragon of the klan. They literally killed him with kindness. He ended up living in their home as he was disabled! They were an amazing couple. Of course this was after he hung up the twisted beliefs of the klan–now that is a group that is no different than the hate groups in the Middle East. I wished I had saved that article. I always think of that couple whenever I hear of hate, which is just about everyday, and I think, gosh, that couple could show folks who hate a thing or two about the positive effects of kindness.

karen

November 25, 2007 at 11:22 pm

I read about them too. The man was a Rabbi whom the KKK member would harass. The Rabbi responded to this hatred with kindness. He invited him to Shabbat dinners and into his home. In the end, the KKK member got cancer, converted to Judaism and lived with the Rabbi and his wife until he died from his cancer. Needless to say during his change of heart, he was rejected and harassed by his former KKK friends.

Barb

November 25, 2007 at 11:44 pm

Karen, thank you. I could not remember all the details. The Rabbi and his wife were such special people. We cannot take the hate out of hate groups but we can take the hate out of some of the people within those groups.

JAS

November 26, 2007 at 12:41 am

Nice story, Barb. But the KKK is a small group of supremacists/segregationists found within an overwhelmingly larger multicultural and multiracial population in the U.S.—a far greater population whose core values engender peaceful coexistence. The reverse is true in the Middle East where supremacist and segregationist claims are the core values taught to their children at home and in schools—and they have squandered millions of dollars of humanitarian aide teaching those claims as well as millions more intended for humanitarian aide to support terrorist groups. In the Middle East kill them with kindness is subverted to kindness kills.

Howie

You are correct…and not correct and your comments are very much like the debate in Israel itself.

One side says…hang back…don’t give them reason to terrorize us…let them go at each other.

Another side says…hey…a rocket just randomly fell out of the sky and killed my kid. I am upset about that. You better do something right FUCKING NOW and not let me on the border be the bargaining chip.

Both sides have a point. And then there is the side that says you can’t show weakness etc.

Barb

November 26, 2007 at 4:00 pm

I definitely understand that Israel has to protect itself, but cutting back on electricity serves no purpose except to deepen the pain, anger. Cutting electricity is not the same as a rocket falling out of the sky. Allowing people to have electricity does not mean that Israel is weak, on the contrary, it would show a greater national interstrength. My belief is that such an action would just increase the membership in terrorist organizations, which none of us wants.

Howie

November 26, 2007 at 4:48 pm

Barb-

So if YOU were king and were responsible of the safety of the people…right NOW…what would you do about the rockets randomly falling into your neighborhoods?

You see…there is no easy answer…You want an answer that works and where nobody gets hurt…so do I…but you know what…this does not exist. So pick your poison…but remember…you are king and responsible to protect your people…I am curious to know how you would handle it. And don’t tell me negotations with Hamas or Islamic Jihad…that might be a long long long term solution…but rockets are falling right now…

Howie

November 26, 2007 at 5:30 pm

Barb…

Just to put it in perspective:

“Hours before the start of the conference, Gaza’s Hamas rulers stepped up their attacks on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, calling him a traitor and saying they would reject any decisions that come out of the international gathering.

“The land of Palestine … is purely owned by the Palestinians,” Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said in a speech. “No person, group, government or generation has the right to give up one inch of it.”

“Anyone who stands in the face of resistance or fights it or cooperates with the occupation against it is a traitor,” he added. He spoke at a meeting attended by some 2,000 activists from local militant groups opposed to the U.S. conference”

Now do you give in to a group of guys like that…who are supported by a large segment of the population? Negotiate while rockets fall?

JAS

November 26, 2007 at 6:32 pm

Sandmonkey:

The more I think about it the more off-base your posted claims here.

Central heating is a modern invention not yet found in many areas of the world where the temperatures regularly fall below freezing and residents find themselves waist deep in snow for many winter months.

Gaza, on the other hand, is essentially a Mediterranean climate—not a ski resort area with those higher elevations and colder temperatures.

If the government in Gaza has not provided emergency electricity generators for clinics and hospitals then that points to carelessness of their government officials regarding the health of the population. Or in a comparison study maybe one should ask, How many of those officials’ homes are equipped with generators?

Cutting power temporarily in a designated area has far more to do with cutting communications that rely on power grids than any claim you have made.

howard_coward

Barb

November 26, 2007 at 8:15 pm

Okay, if I were king and were responsible for the safety of the people…right NOW…what would I do about the rockets randomly falling into my neighborhoods? Rockets randomly falling from the sky into my neighborhoods is a military action and requires a military response. So, I would find out from where those rockets were coming and then I would strike militarily and keep striking until no more bombs randomly fell from the sky into my neighborhoods. Rockets randomly falling from the sky requires a military action. Cutting electricity will not stop bombs from randomly falling from the sky. If anything, such action will only increase the violence. As you all, I do not trust Hamas or groups like them. I certainly would not hand them an excuse to do more violence against my people.

Howie

Hamas and their ilk blend in with the general population…how do you get them without harming others and creating martyrs?

Hamas and their ilk don’t typically wear uniforms…so who do you shoot?

The rocket crews are small, highly mobile and strike very quickly…how do you get them and them only?

I am not being sarcastic here in the least and I meant it when I said I felt you gave an honest answer. Israel has tried your methodology and is criticized by Arabs and Israelis alike….and it has not worked…

Barb

November 26, 2007 at 10:43 pm

Howie, actually, we were discussing electricity-to throw the switch or not to throw it. But in trying to answer your question, here goes. History has proven Israel to be highly skilled in certain areas. Israelis in the past had shown they could enter countries, remove targets who looked like any other citizen of their resident country, and leave those countries without harming anyone. Take those highly skilled abilities and combine them with high technology. I do realize that Israel is sitting surrounded by hostile neighbors, but why make them more hostile by cutting electricity. Is cutting the electricity suppose to be a punishment?

Barb

November 27, 2007 at 12:07 am

Howie, I read Sandmonkey’s above comments to Karen. I have to agree with him. What he is saying makes sense. This is actually the first time I read what Sandmonkey said. Also, to you, I apologize as I think you are saying that cutting the electricity is like a military strike since Israel no longer does the military strikes it use to do. But as Sandmonkey states above that Hamas is intensely unpopular with the palestinains. Like he says if Israel just minds its time and not do anything to send the palestinains back to the Hamas fold, the tide as well as opportunity can turn favorably for Israel. Some of us are concerned that the Muslin Brotherhood will gain power in Egypt because the west supports the dictatorship and abandoned a push for true democracy there. Actually, I think the Egyptians felt it was more like a betrayal from the west. Unless we were willing to walk the walk, we should never ever have talked the talk.

Howie

November 27, 2007 at 12:22 am

Barb…

You have a point…but huge problems remain…

People are getting rocketed and they are demanding that the government protect them. Again…if you are in charge…do you tell them that they and their kids are the sacrifices paid to a “longer term” solution? I think we can agree that is something nobody would accept.

In terms of Israel being skilled at taking out targets etc. Yes…they have been…but I think the dynamic here is much much bigger than taking out a few “targets”…in fact…that too has been criticized as causing more “Palestinian rage” and “playing into the hands of terrorists”.

I don’t want little old ladies and little kids in hosptials having their power cut and i don’t want rockets to randomly falling into people’s schools, and hospitals and homes…

You see…you are looking for a loophole…so am I…I have been for years…I have been asking “is there a way to get these guys to knock this stuff off ” without cruelty and all evidence points to that not being an option.

In terms of the west turning its back on Egypt…I don’t know about that one. But I do know nations at a lot like individuals…doing bad stuff and good stuff and their being a few really horrible people and a few marvelous saints. But really average Joe America at least does not think much about Egypt…one way or the other…they think about sex, fast food, football and cars a great deal…and work and wife and kids.

I guess we forget how terribly ordinary most of us are…but that is another subject…which reminds me…I have to call and visit some Egyptians that I know…dang…forgot.

Howie

November 27, 2007 at 12:25 am

Barb-

I don’t see electricity as punishment…I see it as pressure…Hamas…if you want your people whom you reportedly love and are responsible for to have regular electricty…then stop shooting rockets…take responsibility for the government you run and if you are going to fuck with a country that is much stronger than you…well then don’t bitch and just go back to your people, in the dark, and explain how your policies are actually very beneficial to them.

Barb

November 27, 2007 at 2:32 am

Howie, I do now understand from where your coming. Your seeing cutting electricity as a pressure cleared the picture for me. Although I may not completely agree with it, you all have to do something. Maybe I am a more violent prone person, but I would go after those who are dropping the rockets. But I do now realize that you all do not do that anymore because of collateral damage. This has been a good education for me. We who are sane really need to find someway to put terrorists out of business. I see them as opportunist of conflict. They are criminals who thrive on other’s conflicts. I look upon them separate from the citizens of the countries they dominate.
Howie, I do want to clear up a point. I did not say that the west turned its back on Egypt; it turned its back on the citizens of Egypt who want freedom and democracy; who took to the streets in peaceful marches every night during the summer of 2005. Egypt and Egyptian citizens–there is a marked difference. Have a great evening or maybe it is day there where you are.

Howie

Aside from a few screwballs…nobody has any interest in starving Palestinians…or turning off their heart monitors etc. Many in the Muslim world might not believe that…but it is true…

Look the Palestinians have very valid points…to me that is clear. But again I make you Prime Minister of Israel…Barb Bat Mitzraim we can all you.

Who do you talk to?

Who do you entrust your people’s future to?

When struck…at what point do you strike back?

You gave back Gaza…how did that turn out?

Should you give MORE under the current circumstances?

Is there a recognizable and legitatmate power to talk to and that can keep a treaty and maintain law and order?

As an Egyptian…would you trust your health and safety to the likes of Hamas, Islamic Jihad?

Oh..and sorry about misunderstanding you on the turn the back thing…

Many Muslims won’t hear it but I am telling you…us Jew types are paranoid creatures…we don’t trust the other side and how much can you blame us for that. It is about security, security, security…far more than any Messianic visions.

Barb

Thank you for your kind words. The feelings are mutual. So your wife is a Sabra. I once knew a young man who belonged to the very first generation of Sabras.

There is something I really would like for you to think about.

If Israel were surrounded by democracies, Israel would realize a better form of security.

Our leaders here in the U.S. have always “governed” for the moment. Unfortunately, they have made the mistake of supporting “friendly” dictatorships. Dictators who are abusive to their own people, which causes the citizens of these countries to gravitate towards something else. Now, the citizens of these countries know that the U.S. supported their tormentor(s). Would you support a foreign government who supported an individual who arrested, tortured, raped, caused to disappear your loved ones and friends, or would you move in another direction and try something else? Hence, in walk the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezabollah, etc., who, as we all know, are all one in the same. Presently, the U.S. is paying the dictatorship of Egypt to be “peaceful.” (This is a good article to learn what that dictator truly thinks of we Americans–go to this link: http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/challenges.php?id=1385380.) This is like placing a bandaide where surgery is needed. The surgery needed is called democracy for dollars.

President Bush had a really great idea about spreading/pushing democracy in the region. However, he has unfortunately backed off from that effort.

Please take a look at past U.S. foreign policy. We supported Batista (who lived off of the suffering of his own people) which got us Castro. We supported the Shah of Iran (who was awful to his own people) which got us the ayatollah Khomeini which in turn got us the scary guy with the scary eyes who is presently ruling Iran.

If we do not show support to the citizens of Egypt, we could see the Muslim Brotherhood take power one day. I feel that what goes on inside of Egypt can and will impact all of us at some point in time. I have written to the Subcommittee on the Middle East protesting our support of the dictatorship. I have written to the House Appropriations Committee begging them to stop funding the dictatorship until he provides a form of democracy that the Egyptians truly deserve. I will keep writing until I can no longer write.

So, to me, it is important that those in Israel know and care about what is going on inside of Egypt, for it will impact their lives one day too.

Howie

In many cases…if the USA did not support the current morons…a bigger moron would…A perfect case…EGYPT…right? Who was the biggest suppporter of Egypt between say 56-78? Yup…Soviet Union.

It is a complex world full of bad bad and hard hard choices. Of course the USA supports her interests, but I also think we have done a better job than just about any other country in terms of promoting democracy etc. But far from perfect. Look now…watch China. They are going to go around the ME and make the USA look like porcelin dolls. They don’t give the faintest hoot for rights, just like the Soviets.

And, of course, these countries have to also take responsiblity for themselves. I realize you can’t run around overthrowing cold and cruel dictatorships, yet who is gonna do it for you?

And then look at Iraq. There was a chance and they all end up far more passionate about killing each other than about freedom and democracy.

It seems that there is rarely a choice between clearly good and clearly bad. I would rate the USA record in that regard as around a C+. Russia would get an F- as would China. France…what a D or C? Who else has power? Look what Iran is doing with their growing influence. It is horrible.

So your point is well taken and I realize these things…but I also think you have to push the questions to another level.

In terms of Egypt…I think Egypt could be become the next Iran. First a revolution of sorts that is supported by all kinds of groups, Leftists, democrats, women’s rights, religious etc. Then somebody gets into power and makes all kinds of promises and then…I think it is frightening…damn right and I think it could happen even with all kinds of USA support because I don’t think we are so omnipotent that we can could such forces.

And if you stop funding Mubarak…who fills the vacum? I would think the balance is enormously fragile with your MB types just waiting for the chance to “break out the berkas”…if you know what I mean.

Oh and my wife is barely a Sabra…the parents and siblings all came from Bagdad…I married an Arab…what can I say? Ku lu lu lu lu ?

Barb

November 29, 2007 at 4:04 pm

Howie,

Before we are placed into archives here, I think that Egyptians can make democracy work. Of any other country in the ME, I believe the citizens of Egypt deserve democracy. They are very different from any others in the region. Their history is extremely different from any other country in the region. They do not have all the various opposing religious groups as they have in Iraq. It is my belief that they are smart enough to make it work. It would not be like the democracy that we have here in the U.S., but it would be close to it.

I know I do not want my tax dollars funding the likes of Mubarak. To me, it is like funding the late Saddam. Most likely China would fill the void should we stop funding him. Maybe the Chinese would make Mubarak and his side kick, his son, have stamped across their foreheads–Caution!–Made in China–Full of lead. Oops! Did I say that, oh well.

Many years ago, I knew a young woman who was Jewish and whose parents were from Iraq. She was born in the Sudan. They left the Sudan and came to the U.S.

Feel I am being pushed into archives. So farewell my friend. Have enjoyed this discussion. Hasta la Vista!